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About The North Platte semi-weekly tribune. (North Platte, Neb.) 1895-1922 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 18, 1910)
Livilld Better Modcis Trn o Cooking CiXpeilSeS Needed By TIIURDC RAYLE BRUCE I X1JSNSES of living nro inordinately liigli, but this is in the I if1 I case of most of our people a condition that can be easily retne J died by themselves. It is hardly to bo expected that congressional investiga tion or tho formation of anti-food monopoly nssocia'tions will do much to lower tho cost of tho necessities of life. That tho trusts arc organized to raise prices may bo true, but to reach them in any effective way by law is n different problem. What can bo done, though, in a practical way by tho heads of house holds to cut down living expenses, is very considerable and if generally adopted will bring about n decided lowering of prices. Here is an instance: The choice cuts of meats, like porterhouse Bleaks, or fancy lamb chops aro bringing an absurd price, say 28 to 30 cents a pound. The average family can't afford them, but many will continue to buy, ignoring the fact that tho plebeian round steak is almost as good, if properly cooked, and quite as nutritious, whilo its cost is less by 33 , 1-3 per cent. It is a common saying that Europeans' can livo on what Americans-waste, and I know there is much truth in tho statement. Our people in tho days of n more plentiful and cheap food supply acquired wasteful nnd extravagant habits; really good stuff was thrown into the rcfuso cans, Passion for Collecting Old Junk iron. By W. E. THOMAS pieces, confinjng himself entirely to nuts and bolts, washers and other like trinkets. Several times his employers havo asked him why ho gath ers this vast collection df rolling-mill products. Ilis responso always was that he did not know, but that he could not resist tho impulso to pick up the articles. Even a threat of discharge did not cure him of his mania. He is a man of education and breeding and it has been told of him that when passing through the streets in evening dress he has filled the pockets of his "claw-hammer" with his finds. Naturally his employers grew curious to learn what disposition was made of the old iron and a visit was paid to tho man's home for that purpose. What they beheld was amazing. In tho hear of his lot, in a monster barn, were piled high, clear to the ceiling, tons of old iron. When again questioned as to what disposition ho intended to make of tho iron ho replied : "I really do not know. But I suppose that I shall go on col lecting until I am no more." Keen Noses as Salary Makers By GEORGE M0ULT0N makers, n delicate sense of smell to aid them fumes in proper proportions, exact same results. Tho favorite perfumo extract, which costs $50 per ounce professional "smellers" before tho her majesty. Perfumo makers pay their "smellers" $20 to $35 a week. In Great Britain, whero gas is much used for street lighting, for illu minating public buildings and pleasure parks, tho contractors employ "smellers" to locate leaks, theso men strolling about after tho manner of a bird dog in n likely field. They are usually paid ono shilling for each leak reported nnd some of them make us high as $15 per week. Caring for All Dumb Creatures streets door not By ELSIE NICHOLS est in driver to blanket him. Or let them tako tho troublo to turn a horso' head away from tho street-car tracks. I have seen many horses narrow!) escape being struck by street car through owners' carlcssncss. Or teach tho children to report cases of brutality or overloading. If tJo children were taught this in tho schools thero would bo a crusade started in Chi cago that would soonjrcsult in better conditions for theso dumb brutes. instead of being utilized for future meals. Now. wo have reached the point where some of this inferior material must be put upon the table. Better modes of cooking will make it palatablo and acceptable. If the public will, by n common move ment, sternly set its face against tho purchase of all ultra high priced products and not disdain tho cheaper grades it will do more to bring domestic expenses down to a reasonable basis than all the legislation that Washington can manufacture. Walt Mason's dissertation upon "The Passion fpr Junk" recalls to my memory an actual character who is possessed of the habit of collecting junk. lie is an under official in one of tho largest manufactories in tho west. He is n man- of means and it is needless to say that his mania for col lecting old iron is not one of necessity. But whether it bo at his place of employ ment or on tho highway this man cannot resist tho temptation to stoop, pick up, pocket and carry homo stray bits of old A peculiar feature about tho man's collecting is that ho never takes large The city of Washington was recently up against the problem of selecting an in spector of markets and among tho other qualifications demanded was a keen sense of smell, this being necessary in order that tho inspector might readily locate mcata and other produce a littlo past their prime. As to whether or not there was n competi tive examination tho authorities aro darkly silent, but if there was it must havo been interesting. Keen noses insuro a fairly good living in several industries and trades. Scent for example, need some ono with in mixing tho ingredients of per measurements not always yielding tho of tho queen of England is a violet and this has to bo approved by five makers aro willing to forward it to The superintendent of Chicago public schools, Mrs. Young, orders that school children bo asked to feed tho birds. Why not include in this commendablo charitj other dumb brutes as well? Wo seo man shivering, half-starved dogs, roaming the this cold weather, with their pa thetic eyes seeming to beg for human sym pathy and food. Also stray cats at your find it hard to live in winter. Why educate tho children to tako an inter man's faithful friend, tho horse ? If they sco a poor horso standing unblanketed in tho cold, let them request tho owner or STREAM OF LEAVES NEW YORK TO CIRCLE GLOBE EW YORK. There U a door In a Fourth avenue building which has all tho hall, marks. of shipping de partment doors In goncral bnttercd side posts, pol ished Iron chutes, boxes on the sldo walk innrked with names that seem to have been tnkcu haphazard from a gazotteor. Husky truckmen aro con tinually going In and out and through tho diisty wlndowa tho heads may bo seen of clerks checklnk off lists.. It la one of a thousand doors which would to a casual passerby seem devoted to tho samo purpose. But there Is a special name attached to this particular door. This Is tho Door of a Million Biblos. Out of this door each year n million Bibles pass to bo distributed through tho world. Tho rumor' that n conditional gift of $500,000 from Mrs. Russell Sago awaits tho action of tho Blblo society In rais ing n similar amount Is afllrmed by one of tho ofllclnls, but that any rigid tlmo. limit has been placed upon it ho denies. "Airs, Sago has beon very consid erate," he says, "and appreciating tho dlfllculty attendant upon tho task has extended tho tlmo limit most gen erously." Already largo sums have been re ceived from tho various agencies about tho country to bo added to tho fund which hoboing raised. It takes approximately 3G0O.000 to pay the ex penses of tho socloty each year and mo ;i,uuo,goo thnt tno olllelala expect to receive through Mrs. Sago's gift will bo considered In tho light of n nest egg, something to depend on in financial depressions and slacking up of contributions. ' It was 8lr Walter Scott who in his last illness, after asking a friend to read nloutl to him and hearing tho in tiVrogntlon as to tho book desired, said "Thero Is only fane."' As to this "only ono" thero Is, according to the statistics of tho American Blblo so ciety, "no" evidence thnt tho intorcst of the human family has lapsed into In difference. A record of approximately 90,000,000' volumes in 80 years speaks eloquently to tho contrary. Early Days of the 8ocloty. "The society was first housed In a .small building' on Nassau street, In a sees SCRIPWRB!SoUasU tUe THE BIBLE jrWD AT CONZYJSLAND room about tho elzo of ono of tho sec retaries' sanctums of to-day, with Its -wulls lined with shelves. An officer of 'that early tlmo said that ha hoped the society would prosper to tho ex tent of having nil the available Bpaco Bomo tlmo filled with Bibles. In 1853 tho society moved to its present quar ters after various changes of resi dence, tho carner-stono being laid with duo ceremonials on June 24, 1854," says Dr. Henry Dwlght, ono of tho secretaries of tho society. Following him you seo In tho print ing rooms men nnd women working together, a majority of whom have grown gray in tho service. Some of the secretaries and clerks have served In tho missionary field, and Dr. Dwlght himself has come to his quiet revolv ing chair after strenuous servlco in Turkey. One of tho most interesting places visited is tho managers' room, whore board and special meetings aro held. It Is a (lno old apartment with high wainscoted walls and paneled celling. Stained glass windows afford a mel 'ow light and in it aro portraits of men prominent In tho history of the society. At ono end of tho room Ib a facslmllo of a Chlncso houseboat used to convey a corps of missionaries guejrdlns about twenty tons of Bibles BIBLES sent to parts of China over the groat Yangtso-klQiig river. Tho figures of tho latter half of tho year 1909 aro not yet compiled, but tho rocord shows thnt during tho first six months thero wero sold in China alone about 408, 000 Bibles, a total never reached bo fore. In tho salesroom of tho. society nro cases filled with dupllcato copies of original books and manuscripts. Tho fact that tho building Is not fireproof Is tho reason why tho interesting col lection owned by the socloty Is at proscnt housed at tho Lenox library. This collection contains editions of the Blblo in moro than 1C0 languagos and dialects. Of English versions and revisions thoro aro approximately 5,000 volumes exclusive of the manu scripts. Editions of Famous Bibles. Hero you will sco ono of tho fow "Vinegar Bibles," Oxford, 1710, In which a printer's mistake has beon im mortalized, as in tho "Brooches Bible." Thero Is a facsimile of tho Blblo print ed on whlto Batin which was presented to tho empress downger of China In 1894 by 10.000 Christian women. Thero Is a copy of tho Blblo done Into tho Mongolian dialect by Schrescherow sky, a cripple, who also did It Into Cal muck. Thero Is a copy of tho "Mnza rln Blblo," tho first book printed from 'movablo metal types In two volumes, which appeared about tho year 1456 and tho first recognized copy of which was discovered In the library of Cardi nal Mazarln honco tho title It Is nlso called tho "Gutenberg Bible," from tho namo of tho printer, and again termed tho "Forty-two Lino Blblo," from tho number of lines In each column of its pages. Copies of tho Boveral editions of tho Outonborg Blblo havo beon sold for sums which would procuro nearly 100,000 Biblos now printed by tho American society. Thoro nro also copies of tho Douay version of tho Blblo used by Roman Catholics, of tho translation from tho Latin Vulgate raado by tho English college at Reims, of tho English ver sion of the Scriptures now in common ubo nnd of tho revised edition, tho work of English nnd American schol ars, which appeared In 1885. Accord ing to tho torras of tho agrcemont 1 then entered into no other revision BROOKLYN BI0ILE SOCIETY was to bo publlshod until after 14 -years, so it was not until tho Bummer of 1901 Jhnt tho American Stnndard edition of tho revised edition was given out, interesting Exhibits, Tho society exhibits in special cabl nots somo of tho queer objects given among tho many natlvo tribes In ex change for Bibles. Theso Include per sonal adornments, weapons of the hunt and war, carvings and paintings, shells, embroideries. In tho sales room aro to bo seen slnglo books from tho Blblo, printed In clear typo and bound In cloth, which retail for two cents npleco, those In foreign tongues at threo cents. Tho New Testament coBts six cents. Tho comploto Blblo may be bad for 17 cents, tho foreign versions costing 25. Tho most expensive? Bibles printed for tho holiday trade, with soft covers of scarlet leather, cost only 1.80, tho object of tho society being to furnish thoso volumos ub cheaply as posslblo and eliminating editions do luxo and Blblca in ex pensive bindings, except in rnro In stances where a direct cnll Is made for them. Tho low prices, many of them much below tho actual cost of production, aro interesting In connec tion with tho statistics furnished by Dr, Dwlght in regard to tho expense Incurred In earlier times. "Before the art of printing tho Bible was reproduced exclusively by brief men or copyists who wroto It out with tho pen, and It was then tho most ex pensive book in the world," ho said. "In tho thirteenth century n copy of tho Blblo with a fow explanatory notes cost 9150. Tho wages of a laborer amounted then to 18 cents a week and it would tako a workman about fifteen years to earn enough to purchase a volunie. Bible a Household Treasure. "Even after tho Invontlon of print ing tho Blblo sold nt fabulous sums. In as lata a period as that immediate ly following tho American revolution tho dearth of books was so great that tho possession of a Blblo ranked with that of tho other trcaeuros of a house hold. Tho cheapest volume cost net less than two dollars." Altogether, through tho efforts of the society, translations of tho Blblo havo beon raado Into about 450 lan guages and dialects. Theso transla tions aro generally tundo by mission aries, who In tho countries whore thero Is no written tonguo find them selves confronted by n work that oftentimes takes anywhero from two to five years and is attended by very great difficulties. As soon as a mis sionary Iibb formulated a written Inn gungo from tho spoken sounds nnd lino taught somo of the natives to read and wrlto ho wants to translato tho Blblo and requests tho Blblo society to print tho translation and send him tho books for distribution. At tho present tlmo tho Blblo so ciety la printing tho Blblo In three of tho languages of Africa which hnVo novcr been used for writing. It Is also printing Bibles In five of the Inn- JlPJji ti guagoB of tho Philippines and slowly completing tho printed list of 30 lan guages used in tho Islands of the south Pacific. Many Distributing Points. A great many of tho books intonded for distribution in tho far cast are printed In places other than New York. For example, thoro Is a fine printing establishment at Yokohama under tho nuspIceB of the Blblo so ciety which employs Japane'so work men under contract. From this place distribution is made to the Philippines and to Korea. Tho society also prluto In Shanghai and Chen Tu nnd at Bangkok-In Stain, and at Boirut in Syria similar work Is dono, some of It on presses belonging to tho Presby torlnn Missionary society, with which tho American Biblo society co-operates. "Tho agency established In tho northwest during tho year ending In March 31, 1909, distributed Scriptures In 35 dlfforcnt languages, Including, In addition to French, Germnn, Scandina vian nnd Finnish, such tongues as tho Lettish, Slovak, Lithuanian, Croatian, Slovantan and Arabic, Ono of tho Biblo society colporteurs whb sont to Indianapolis to distribute books among tho IIunynkB, Tho namo was unknown to him. Whon ho went among them ho found that tho people bo designated were a medley of Servians, Croatlans, Bulgarians, Macedonians, Turks, Ru manians, Greeks, Albanians, Germans and Hungarians. "In Haughvlllo, a suburb of Indian apolis, ho found Slovanlans, Poland ers, Slovaks and Lithuanians. Theso foreigners live together in groups; in ono InBtanco 53 men wero living in five small rooms, Tho colporteurs employed by tho Araorlcnn Blblo so ciety during tho last year numbered approximately GG2; of theso 1G3 wero In tho homo agencies nnd tho re mainder In tho foreign agencies and as missionary correspondents. Revisions and Translations, "Tho revisions of tho various trans lations and editions of tho Blblo al ready printed is also nn Important branch of tho work," snyB Dr. Dwlght. "For oxamplo wo havo been at work slnco last spring iu getting a Spanish rovlsion and expect it will tako six years to complete tho work. For this purposo wo brought horo throo Amerl- can missionaries from Mexico, tlirefc men who havo lived In South Amerfct; for 30 years and know tho literary lan guago perfectly, and to assist these, three natlvo scholars. "They aro expected to keep close watch on each other's work and pre vent either provincialism or tho stiff old Castlllan tongue from predomi nating. When the revision of tho ex isting Blblo Is completed a thousand copies will be sent through the Span, lsh speaking countries to get the criti cisms of tho people ' "In China thero lias been working for 12 years a committee composed di Americans nnd British, who arc Ve vising two Chlncso dialects, and theiw men will stay there nnd dig for sev eral years longer, for it is a tre mendous plcco of work. Another equally difficult task Is tho revision of tho Zulu Blblo. "The Arabic rcferonco Bible Is now being printed nt the press in Beirut, Syria, and tho completion of tht Mandarin Chlncso reference Blblo con. tinues, slowly progressing to an ulti mate perfection. Tho rovlsion work Is considered of tremendous luipor tance In the society. "In regard to tho work nearer afi hand, In Now York thoro nre several auxiliaries which help In this work nnd there nro In Manhattan betweoa 35 nnd 40 spoken languagos. Agents from the society nro Bent 'dally to Ellis Island. During tho 80 years ended Octobor 1, 1900, tho socloty dis tributed 2,030,088 copies of tho Bible in this way. "Early In its history tho socloty mado arrangements to supply Biblos at half cost to hotels, steamboats and railroad cars, and at the principal sea ports, with Now York In tho lead, a large number are regularly sent ' 4 .ITV v mklfiG BBLES IN A JAPANESE. BINDER.? among tho naval forces and among seamen generally. About 1,500,00.0, books havo been distributed by tho marine committee" Dales at Coney Island. Even the dignified seriousness of Dr. Dwlght Ib not proof against the nttack of mirth that seizes him as ho relates tho Introduction of what a barker described to the merrymakers at Coney island last summer as "tho waBhtub" edition of the Bible. The Bible at Coney island Is brought Into competition with fascinating and novel forms of amusement and enter tainment and the hoarse volco of Its own energetlo colporteur is one of many crying special wares, such as the "Loop the Loop," tho "Rido Into tho Whale" and the "Voyage to Heaven and Hell," and even theso members of the society who deprecato tho apparent loss of dignity Involved in this rivalry nro obliged to admit that whllo it is eminently necessary to maintain tho serloua character of tho Holy Book, at tho samo tlmo it Is equally necessary to yield a point hi doing so and to tako Into account tho prevailing moods of tho thousands who etroll by tho stand moods ot) recreation and enjoyment. Tho colporteur at Conoy Island had a ready tongue and wit. Ho has a moro difficult proposition to handle than Ills competitors, and he handlos It deftly. To ono ho says reprovingly, In answer to a Jest: "This book will koop you from sin. Sin will kcop yo from ths book. On tho cards ho die tributes and among tho printed post ers decorating his wall stocked stsffl tho passerby may road: Satan trembles wUen ho sco Scriptures sold n "theap aa these. With his mogaphono In hand Job Henry Way, a Hfetlmo dovoteo of tlila sncclal branch of vork. calls out te tho moving multitude, "Don't forgot tho Bible," and somo aro singled ouSS for special comments adapted to their special needs. Th small boy whose greedy mouth Is opm to receive largo chunk of Ico cream sandwich is, for instance, arrestee by tho state ment, "You can hav a book that will last you for years fo tho prlco of a sandwich that is Ioj In a second," Probably the sandwIcR 4a lost and tlf book Ib not gained, bi tho boy h.f been mado -to think.